Visit the South of France in autumn and you’ll have the villages and the beaches to yourself for exploring on balmy days

Gordes is so Provençal it appears as if it’s been airbrushed on Photoshop. It’s a Monday morning in late September. Kiosks piled high with local figs and black grapes ­— none of which has seen a refrigerator or an articulated lorry — spill out of shops and on to the stone streets. Sans touristes it’s timeless, tranquil and incredibly cheap.

There’s a reason for that. As French children return to school in mid-September, the price of hotels, hire cars and even fixed-price menus drop like a stone. Popular though Provence is with Italians and Brits, it’s the French who make up